Editing out the boom?

P

prexdealer

Well-known member
Hi,

Was reading something by Zak http://thesabicompany.com/blog/2012/01/get-good-sound/. He was discussing how he wanted really good sound. The technique he spoke about was "matting" where he took a shot of the scene without people to use to erase the mic later in editing. I am sure I am not explaining it as well as he does. Just curious if this happens a lot and how easy it is to edit out the mic? If it is easy to do it seems that this process would be better than trying to fix sound in post

Thanks.
 
i've done it a couple of times on static shots pretty easily, i wouldn't consider it for moving shots unless there's no other option
 
On one hand, you do what you have to do in order to get clean sound. That said, it's not often that the Director or DoP will conceded to extra image work in post for the sake of sound.

It's an effective process, but takes VERY controlled circumstances to make work. There can be no changes in framing, lighting, color temp, etc. It has to be on a lock-down shot. So it's not often that this will work. But on a controlled set, and with a crew that truly works together (Director/DoP/Gaffer/Sound) it can be a good way to get clear sound when the frame wouldn't otherwise allow.

In interest of full disclosure, I worked on a short film last month where we had a challenging situation and a locked-down shot with controlled lighting. The Director and I chatted for a minute, and I suggested this technique. He agreed, and in the rough cut I watched last week it was flawless.
 
I did production sound on a short that was all green screen. I was "bag mixing" it, booming, recording to a SD recorder, and sending audio to a Viper Cam (remember those?). I was concerned about staying out of the shot for obvious reasons, but some of the shots were really wide. The director told me it was ok for me to be in the frame, and that they could easily take me out of the shot later. i don't know if it was because it was all green screen or the camera didn't move, but later on you would have never known I was there.
 
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